Last year we put up a bluebird box, hoping to attract some Bluebirds to our yard. We were quite surprised to see Tree Swallows show up, seemingly out of nowhere, set up house keeping, raise a twittering brood of six, gather with other Tree Swallows in the area and then disappear...all in a matter of just a few weeks. It was this date, April 30th, that they arrived last year. This year, they arrived on April 12th, (my birthday ! )and immediately started arguing with the House Sparrows as to who was going to use the box. We set up another box, about 100 feet away from the first, and watched the Swallows and Sparrows duke it out, while a pair of Chickadees decided that Box#2 was perfect for them and worked for several days building a nest. Then the Tree Swallows gave up on Box # 1, evicted the Chickadees and moved in. I'm clearing out House Sparrow nests from Box # 1 every few days now. The Chickadees moved on to less contentious grounds. Welcome back Swallows ! This picture was taken yesterday, through the misty rain.
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